About LibertyNET

LibertyNET Enterprise, from Liberty IMS, is a feature-rich, scalable platform which includes capabilities for electronic document management, records management, process automation, workflow, digital asset management, COLD/ERM, e-forms, email management, and collaboration. The system is designed to allow organizations to quickly deploy solutions without a programmer, and to incrementally expand over time as business needs dictate.

Document Management and PDF

Companies deploying LibertyNET Enterprise view PDF as a vital file format for a wide range of unstructured content. More and more strategic enterprise content is being stored within PDF documents. Recognizing this trend, Liberty IMS implemented a plan to deliver enhanced functionality in support of extensive use of PDF. “Adobe continues to drive PDF as a critical technology and now an open platform. We see more and more useful features in PDF which further entrench it in core business processes. So it becomes more and more important to control and intelligently manage the use of PDF, and maximize the benefit of managed PDF content, both now and in the future”, said Russ Henderson, CTO of Liberty IMS.

To meet the demand for PDF content management, Liberty IMS developed LibertyNET PDF Plus, a component of their LibertyNET suite which expands the native portability and integrity of PDF to a higher level: allowing markups; searching; processing of business rules; and the routing and distribution of PDF content for review, approval, and publishing.

PDF Plus offers advanced support for PDF content. The Advanced Print to LibertyNET feature allows users to store native content from any application into the LibertyNET repository as PDF. PDFs managed within LibertyNET are fully optimized for fast web view/retrieval, and PDF content can be automatically indexed for searching. Entire PDF ingestion and management processes can be automated using LibertyNET rule templates. “These advanced capabilities are of great interest to the majority of our customers, who find PDF playing a key role within their company’, said Mr. Henderson.

“With the LibertyNET PDF Plus module using the Adobe PDF Library from Datalogics, we feel we have a PDF solution which can grow with our customers’ unique PDF requirements.”

Build or Buy?

“When we looked at developing these PDF capabilities ourselves, it became clear that PDF is one of the fastest moving targets in the industry. For us, it made sense to look outside our company for a partner who could provide critical PDF file format technology. This would allow us to focus on delivering the general content management platform feature set for our customers. We took a look at several companies to supply the enabling technology. Eventually we found out about the Adobe PDF Library API, available through Datalogics.”

The Adobe PDF Library is a developer toolkit that allows third-party developers to support the PDF format within their own applications. Developers can flexibly implement and develop powerful Adobe PDF solutions in desktop environments, as well as a wide range of server platforms. It is licensed through Datalogics, and available to companies wishing to provide PDF capabilities within their application using the same code base Adobe uses to build their Acrobat products, ensuring compatibility with Acrobat and Reader.

Liberty IMS entered Datalogics’ evaluation program, and obtained a copy of the PDF Library for testing. At the conclusion of the evaluation, Liberty IMS determined that:

future updates of the PDF Specification would likely be implemented into the PDF Library almost immediately

Datalogics’ knowledge, expertise and responsiveness would help Liberty IMS integrate the Library quickly and get the resulting module to market faster.

Results

The decision to license the Adobe PDF Library has proven to be a good one for Liberty IMS. The company was able to develop and release the PDF Plus module in a surprisingly short period of time. “The PDF Plus module had an immediate impact on the customer base: over 50% of existing customers are now using the PDF Plus module,” said Mr. Henderson. “Customers are already suggesting enhancements to the module, and with the solid base of the Adobe PDF Library, we’re confident we’ll be able to deliver them in future releases. With the LibertyNET PDF Plus module using the Adobe PDF Library from Datalogics, we feel we have a PDF solution which can grow with our customers’ unique PDF requirements.”